


last days

by Anonymous



Series: dream's descent to his eventual fallout (but patches is here to make everything less sucky) [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Character Study, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, Rated T for swearing, Slight OOC Dream?, by any means go and kick dsmp dreams ass but by god do i think he needs a hug, dont you hate it when you try to 'help' but it just fucks everything up later?, emotional vulnerability!, no beta we die like dsmp dreams redemption arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28530690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: “I call foul; you’re not allowed to play with my feelings like this! I’m a simple man, I see a cat and I go ‘cute’– that does not mean I will give in so easily! You cannot–will not– make me fall for your every whim and turn me into someone who’d drop an important battle just because you wanted to eat!!”“Mow?”“Goddammit–” Dream raised his hands up in surrender, huffing in frustration as he looked for some raw fish in his inventory. The cat’s whiskers twitched, eyes flicking up to the movement, almost as if it knew that he was gonna crumble under the pressure of a measly meow– the clever little bastard.---------------------------In which Patches looks at this sad,pathetic excuse of a, masked man in the forest, asks if anyone's going to love him, and doesn't wait for an answer.
Relationships: Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF) & Patches the Cat (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: dream's descent to his eventual fallout (but patches is here to make everything less sucky) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2089992
Comments: 5
Kudos: 67
Collections: Anonymous





	last days

**Author's Note:**

> i am so tired of dream being a ''mysterious'' terrifying villain like please let this mf get therapy /hj
> 
> edit: i rushed finishing this on a 1 am school night and it shows

Heavy netherite boots clacked against the wooden pathway as Dream emerged from the empty community house. It was midday, evident by the sun being in its highest peak up in the sky, bright and blinding while he peered at it through his mask.

If it were the olden times, he would’ve spotted a member of his world or two along the prime path, exchanging quick hellos or nods before one or the other scrambles about to continue their day. The surroundings would’ve been lacking its current structures and buildings, burned down houses or walls of cobblestone and wood non–existent and basically just empty.

“Not like it’s any different now.” Dream murmured, watching sunlight flicker on the lake. Planks creaked under his weight, the only sound accompanying it was the lap of water against the wooden beams.

People tended to avoid him these days; what was once cheerful and shy greetings have turned into complete utter silence and tense eye contact. With how much he’s felt like control was slipping like sand from his fingers, a small part of him would have rejoiced at being reveled at as this feared being who’d catch and claim anyone’s attention without even having to try and call for it, but he’d be lying if he said it didn’t make him uncomfortable, or lonely.

Nonetheless that wasn’t always the case. There were always exceptions, or there _used_ to be.

_They’re gone._ A voice in him whispered. _They’ve made their choice and left, and whose fault is that?_

He shook the thoughts away with a roll of the shoulders, not in the mood to be so grim in this sunny weather. It doesn’t help that he bypasses the main nether portal, the purple glow and hot air making the hairs on the back of his neck rises in unwanted trepidation. It reminded him of how beyond the Nether were pathways stretching out to more far–out portals to travel to other parts of the Overworld, and one them was the now blown up Logstedshire.

More thoughts and images flash in his head repeatedly; a lonely beach, the edge of a frostbitten forest, a cottage lying in wait on snowy plains. For a single, sudden moment, Dream’s jaw set itself in a half–growl as memories crowded against each other in his head, of discs and TNT and explosions and wars. Negotiation bordering on childish arguments that included yelling. So much yelling.

His nose wrinkled in distaste, hands clenching so tightly his knuckles turned white. He wanted to take out these feelings on something, somewhere, some _one_ but the only response he got to his frustration was a passing breeze, rustling the fabric of his hoodie and tugging at the stray hairs that slipped past his helmet.

It’s a silent, nondescript moment, one that he wouldn’t’ve noticed if his mind weren’t so preoccupied on trying to calm down. With a shift of a mask using stiff fingers, the young man walked past the lines of obsidian with a simple goal to just get away. Away from everything and everyone, of pointing fingers and angry faces.

Ironically, despite being alone most of the time, it always felt like someone was watching him, judgement set in their eyes that left ripples of anxiety through his spine. It left a bitter taste in his tongue, to admit such a thought even only to himself, and he’d rather die than admit it to anyone else anytime soon. His past self would not of have been anymore different a few months ago, swallowing his own fear and nervousness for the sake of being listened to. But Dream was emotional, someone who’d feel things strongly to the point of letting them control what he does in the heat of the moment; and with how much he’s been repressing that part of him so often, it was only inevitable that it would to blow up on his face later.

Good thing he has his mask, another front and another wall against everyone around him.

Dream’s shoulders hunch at the thought, and he ignored the urge to rub at his face self–consciously. Instead he looked around, the field he’d been traipsing over for ender knows how long finally came to a stop in the form of the edge of a forest. He gathered his bearings (mostly unresolved emotional turmoil, really) and welcomed the relief that came with the shade of trees, the resentment that had wormed its way into his head dissipated slowly yet calmly, and once it’s all gone, it crashed down onto him on how tired he felt.

Exhaustion was a better word, thinking about it, and he has a mental battle if he should even be allowed to be. Taking a deep breath and releasing it all out of his lungs, Dream made his way to the closest oak and let his knees buckle under him to not so gracefully prop his back against the tree.

Taking a few more gulps of air and counting from one to three, he took to removing his armor, starting with his helmet then his chest plate. The boots were easy enough, and he let himself be lazy and willingly partake in the painstaking process of removing his leggings while sitting down, not feeling the need to take the easy way out by doing it while standing up. 

It took him a solid 20 minutes to finally finish, and now while he’s out of his armor, alone in a way that didn’t feel suffocating, Dream allowed himself to breathe.

The bark of the oak tree against his back wasn’t by any means comfortable, nor was the grass under his butt any softer than course pieces of wheat, but the breeze was nice, and so was the quiet rustle of leaves and grass, of peaceful birdsong filtering overhead. If he had to describe it all with one word, he’d dare to even call it safe.

It’s enough to have him carefully unclasp the mask on his face, turning it over to peer at the crudely drawn smile and rub a thumb over the chipped black paint. Though the easy touch of wind blowing on his cheeks was welcome, he had to convince himself to relax; that he could consent to the prickly idea of being seen, because while he was sure that no one was here he was still wary of letting himself be vulnerable like this.

Few have managed to see him without his mask, some on purpose and some by accident; he thought he’d be getting better, thought he’d muster enough courage to comfortably show face once and for all in the long run, but negotiating wars and land and peace didn’t pair well with being an open book.

“Your eyes are a dead give–away, dude,” Sapnap had chided a long time ago, not judging, by any means; he had elbowed Dream with a teasing lilt to his voice. “They’re like balls of emotions– like right now! There! It’s not even funny and I could absolutely destroy you in a game of poker, no questions asked.”

Dream had gone quiet then, something contemplative set to his shoulders that had Sapnap softening and continuing. “It’s not a _bad_ thing though, you big baby. If you don’t want anyone looking, that’s fine too, I mean, that’s what the mask is for right?”

“Yeah.” Dream said, blinking rapidly and putting the mentioned item on his face. A second after he nudged Sapnap playfully. “A shame everyone won’t be able to see this pretty face huh? You’re definitely one of the lucky ones.” He lifted the porcelain enough so that his friend could see the smirk on his lips.

Sapnap responded with an eloquent shove at his face, and though Dream spluttered curses at the action, retaliating by pushing back and making them fall and roughhouse each other on the ground, they still end up as laughing, wheezing messes in the grass to be found by an exasperated George and scolding Bad later that day.

A memory like that would have made Dream smile in fond amusement in the past, now it made a frown perch on his lips, made his brows furrow deeply as a certain type of sadness coiled around his head. No matter how much he told himself otherwise, the masked man really missed them.

Lost in his own musings, he nearly missed the sound of a stick snapping by the undergrowth a few feet beside him.

Dream’s back tensed, hand clenching harshly on the handle of his axe by the ground. For a split–second he’s sure that someone’s about to attack, ( _who wouldn’t? with him being vulnerable and semi–out in the open like this_ ) decided that they’ve had enough of his presence and ultimately went to off him for good and, unconsciously, he readied for the sting of something sharp piercing his chest, the hot sudden pain of harming potions, or _Nether,_ even the agonizing splash of lava against his person, but what greets him when he turns around is something laughably less dramatic than his imaginative scenarios.

Gleaming yellow–green eyes peeked at him from under the dark shadows of an elder bush, Dream wanted to slap himself. A short, cheeky mew accompanied the appearance of a furry head from the dense growing leaves, something he would’ve cooed at if it weren’t for how stupid he felt. He sighed, stance relaxing yet still on guard.

Annoyed at himself for getting panicked over some measly little cat, Dream closed his eyes and strained to listen to his surroundings a little bit more and lo and behold, he could hear the tell–tale signs of a village nearby, villager speak reaching his ears in little grunts and snorts. The feline must have come from there.

Muttering under his breath as he opened his eyes again, he’s a little surprised to see that the animal that had startled him hadn’t ran off yet. He watched as the normally skittish mob squeezed itself out of the bush, stretching its body as its mouth opened up to a yawn, and in the strange sense of fascination you got from watching the smart creatures, Dream idly watched as it licked a white paw and then continued to complacently draw it over its ears and whiskers.

“Guess you’re not leaving anytime soon.” He huffed, settling back against the tree and crossing his arms over each other.

The cat chirped at him, the kind of meow that rippled and chattered like a soft, trembling growl, and Dream, in contrast to his oh so infamous ‘I don’t give a fuck about anything’ speech, melted at the sounds. Against his will, as the cat put its attention on him with a tilt of its head, the words ‘adorable’ inevitably pop up on his head and he groaned.

He repeatedly tapped his knuckle against his forehead, making a point to pair it with each word out of his mouth. “Don’t. Be. An. Idiot. Dream.” As he rubbed his assaulted temple, he drew his knees up and plopped his chin on top. “Shoo, go away. This is my spot.”

Dream already felt like an idiot, letting himself get scared of a tiny noise caused by a harmless cat of all things, but when his brain tells him that it looked offended at his words, like it _understood_ him, he wondered if he should actually try and let himself have a proper night’s sleep for once.

He rubbed a hand over his face, letting it stay over his mouth as he glared at the cat half–heartedly. “This is dumb, me talking to you is dumb, me talking out _loud_ like this is dumb.”

The cat either ignored him or deigned it not worth it to react to the words, sitting down and lifting a back leg up to start grooming a part of its belly. Its fur looked clumped and dirty, and though it didn’t look particularly skinny, Dream knew that either this cat’s been living outside for its entire life, or it had a really bad owner, he hoped it was the former.

Without thinking, Dream wondered if he had any spare fish left in his inventory, almost taking a look before he suddenly stopped, lips pressing into a thin line. “Idiot.” He whispered to himself, what does _he_ care about whether or not the cat has had anything to eat?

He noticed the cat had paused too, in a mid–grooming session as it curled into itself with its flexible body, it stared at him unblinkingly before scratching at a probably hard to reach spot between its ears. Dream resisted the temptation to scratch it for the animal.

“You don’t want another Spirit situation.” He said, scolding– _convincing_ himself that he didn’t care– he didn’t! Shouldn’t, for the better sake of everyone involved.

_Did it have to be, though?_

It’s not like feeding this little cat (and giving it a bath or two) meant he was going to adopt it. Probably. Maybe.

It mewed, eyes wide and curious.

“Ughhh,” His voice gets muffled as he buried his face into his knees, peering up and glaring half–heartedly at the cat sat across from him. “I call foul; you’re not allowed to play with my feelings like this! I’m a simple man, I see a cat and I go ‘cute’– that does _not_ mean I will give in so easily! You cannot– _will_ _not_ – make me fall for your every whim and turn me into someone who’d drop an important battle just because you wanted to eat!!”

“Mow?”

“Goddammit–” Dream raised his hands up in surrender, huffing in frustration as he looked for some raw fish in his inventory. The cat’s whiskers twitched, eyes flicking up to the movement, almost as if it knew that he was gonna crumble under the pressure of a measly meow– the clever little bastard.

Dream laid down the piece of cod onto the grass, holding one finger up as the cat padded forward with a tiny pep in its step. “Just one, nothing more, nothing less, okay kitty?”

Already muzzle deep into the food offered, the cat answered back with a wobbled, overstuffed mew, and it’s enough to make the pout leave Dream’s lips and replace it with a fond, affectionate chuckle.

“Slow down a little, you don’t want to choke, that’d be a stupid way to end your life.” He murmured, watching on with a lopsided smile. Out of the shadow from the bushes it was under, he could now see it’s pelt much more clearly. Brown tabby fur with patches of orange was smudged with dirt and gravel, even more apparent on its light brown (though Dream’s sure it must be white) chest, belly, and paws. The young man mulled over his thoughts for a second, before an imaginary light bulb went up above his head.

“Patches.” The word tasted foreign, yet _right_ on his tongue. Slowly reaching a hand out, the tips of his fingers brushed over the tip of an ear, and suddenly the cat flinched and Dream’s afraid it was going to actually run away for good, but instead, a dusty head willingly makes contact with his palm, and a part of his heart melted a bit more.

_Getting attached will do no good. You’re creating yourself a weakness._

Caught up in the moment of peace, the sudden, negative thought that made itself aware on his head is almost jarring.

Dream frowned, retracting his hand hesitantly before sighing and shooing the voices telling him he’ll regret this away. He didn’t care, didn’t want to, not only because even though it’s only been ten minutes since he’s met this cat and would already die for it, but also because he’s just tired. Tired of pushing everyone away, of being alone, of setting his foot down when all he wants is to mess around and laugh with his friends.

Taking care of his server was hard, taking responsibility for everyone’s actions and keeping up the peace was even harder. He’s done a lot of things to keep control of all the conflict that has happened, some of them not being the greatest choices. Dream isn’t perfect, he made mistakes like everyone else, but along the line of trying to do good, of trying to help everyone, he’d trampled head first into territory that framed his as the villain.

Closing his eyes for a moment to block out his miserably pity session, Dream would’ve loved to take a nap then and there, but his body was not as kind. Believe all he wanted about being safe, but he knew that that could never be farther from the truth. He’s gotten too used to feeling like he always had to watch his back, to always be on guard, and a simple clearing with the gentle rustle of grass wasn’t enough to fully remove that feeling. Even now he was feeling a bit antsy with all his armor off, only being able to resist putting them all back on thanks to the netherite axe dubbed Nightmare on his person.

Then suddenly, the soft placement of a paw on his thigh made him pause, Dream looked down as the cat– as Patches stretched and kneaded on his pants. Wincing only slightly at the sharp pokes of claws on his leg, Dream was still when the puss settled down comfortably on his lap, a pile of fish bones lay on where a whole cod used to be.

When Patches began purring, Dream knew he wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. So, accepting his fate, he let himself lean back against the tree again, hand going to pet the soft fur behind the cat’s ear to stroking its spine. The rhythmic movement and white noise of purring instilled a comforting kind of calmness within him.

A life like this would not be so bad, he idly thought.

The idea of just not caring anymore and leaving everything was almost as tempting as circular discs and getting his friends back– because – if he’ll end up fucking up and ruining everything like so many have been saying to his face – then he should just remove himself from the picture entirely, right?

Dream pinched the bridge of his nose, before moving on to pinch a bit of skin on his arm, making sure it stung.

“I won’t.” he said, voice low and serious. “I won’t run away. I won’t leave them behind. I won’t do that. I’ll fix it and everything’ll be okay, I’ll make sure everyone’s happy, even if I don’t… get to be with them… in the process.”

Silence met his words, idly, he stared at the clouds, voices started echoing in his head, both sounding of himself and so many others.

_Just say you hate me._

_You twist your words and make it about yourself, you’re selfish and using us as excuses._

_He doesn’t care about us anymore._

Dream’s not sure when he’d accidentally, _genuinely_ began to fall asleep, but when he woke up to an empty lap and cat fur on his pants, as well as the dark orange and red sky greeting him above his head, he’s not sure whether that was a good or bad thing.

His shoulders slumped in disappointment.

Patches had gone.

_Why are you even surprised? Everyone leaves you at some point, it’s just in your nature to drive them away._

He tasted something bitter on his tongue, and he sighed while shaking his head. At least no one had to deal with him today, a painful feeling jabbed at his chest. _Did anyone even notice he was gone? Did they care?_

“S’not like me disappearing is an uncommon occurrence.” Dream muttered to himself. “For all they know I could be plotting my ‘next move’ or grinding resources for weapons or fighting.”

Just as he’s about to put on his mask, mumbling nonsense and curses under his breath, and meow from the forest behind him made his head swivel harshly towards the sound. A lithe body pounces from the undergrowth, blithely encircling itself around over and over his feet.

Dream laughed, shoving his mask under his belt and crouching down to greet his friend. “Patches! Y-You actually came back! You didn’t leave me, I-” he stopped abruptly, eyeing the weight settled in the cat’s jaws. “Is-Is that a mouse?”

And certainly, there was a dead mouse in Patches’ mouth, she looked proud, and the disgust faded away on Dream's face in favor of uncontrollable wheezing.

“You’re just a treasure, aren’t you?” He said once he calmed down, wiping off tears from the corners of his eyes.

Patches tipped her head, as if agreeing and Dream couldn’t resist scratching her under her chin. Amidst his laughing fit, the sun had gone down completely and replaced the dark red clouds with grays and blues. 

Looking at his surroundings and back at the innocent cat on the ground, Dream makes a decision.

“I hope you’re extra scary to creepers and phantoms.” Dream said as he picked Patches up and settled her front paws on his shoulder. Never mind a dead mouse was hanging right by his ear, he hasn’t felt this happy in literal months. “Wouldn’t want the explosions or sounds exposing where we live now do we?”

He’s taking this cat back to his house (which _very_ much exists, thank you), and maybe, it’d actually start feeling like a _home_.

And sweet, charming, Patches, perfectly comfortable under his care, merely purred in response before snuggling onto his neck.

It only felt like a measly band aid to a much larger and serious wound, but with his heart melted like putty underneath all the enchanted netherite armor, Dream knew he wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> i actually dont know what the actual fuck is going on anymore plot-wise i just watched random streams i was interested in in two straight days and called it a day
> 
> also i kept playing this video on loop while writing on some of the parts, this video is my lifeline, my reason for living, the light of my life, th- https://twitter.com/karywastaken/status/1324572753408663552?s=20
> 
> idk if thisll be a comprehensive series with actual plot, but i wanna write more fluff w dream being a softie towards his cat so,,,, yeah. (i never ask but since im on anon,, comments and kudos would be super cool btw :'] )


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